


Little Partner Mine

by Fran1632



Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:50:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7319545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fran1632/pseuds/Fran1632
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Illya is regressed to a four year old.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Partner Mine

Ilya woke slowly. It was strangely quiet. Usually he heard sounds of his brother and sisters playing and fighting. His mother cooking and his Babushka softly humming while rocking in her chair by the fire. But there was none of these familiar noises. As he became more awake he heard strange noises. Beeps and hisses and far away voices. He began to get frightened. He had no clue where he was. A panic began low in his stomach and slowly climbed to his chest. Suddenly he heard a door open and foot steps approach. He shot open his eyes and kicked himself out from the sheet that lay over him and back against the wall.

"Whoa there Mr. Kuryakin. Take it easy. I just need to take your vital signs before the doctor comes in to see you." a nurse explained as she pulled out a thermometer and shook it while reaching for his wrist. 

The silence in medical was suddenly broken by a scream. Followed by the nurse bursting from Illya's room.

"He bit me!!!" she yelled. Holding up her right hand index finger for all to see. She turned to the doctor and proclaimed that she would no longer deal with any section two agents. Not for any amount of money or threat - even from Thrush. She stomped away down the hall and disappeared around the corner. The nurses remaining in the hall turned to the doctor with expectant looks and with a sigh he headed for Illya's room.

Napoleon Solo rushed along the halls and tapped his toe impatiently in the elevator as he headed to medical. He had had to step away from his partner for a meeting with Mr Waverly. He wanted to be there when Illya awoke. It was something they both did for each other. It helped ease the anxiety and confusion when recovering from run ins with Thrush.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped out as the doctor burst out from Illya's room.  
"He bit me! Solo give me your gun! I'll fix his ass with a tranquilizer dart right up his...."

Napoleon had his gun out and was looking around a little confused. He looked at the doctor who pointed towards Illya's room. "You deal with him! Waverly is going to hear about this!"

Napoleon looked around at the mutinous staff and slowly moved towards the door. He poked his head around the door taking in the now empty bed and called out. "Illya?" there was no answer.  
"Illya? It's me Napoleon. Where are you buddy?" Still nothing. He called a little louder and added seriosness to his tone. "Ilya I need to see you right now. Come out. Now!"

There came a shuffling from under the bed and he bent down to take a look. Back in the corner as far as he could go was his partner; huge blue eyes full of fear and un-shed tears.  
"Illya what are you doing under here? You need to get back into bed. The doctor needs to look at you." Illya shook his head no. Napoleon sighed and figured he was going to have to reach in and grab him and pull him out.

The doctor and nurses had slowly approached the door, trying to hear what was going on. Suddenly there was a burst of noise. Name calling and a resounding nyett was followed by grunting and swearing in english. There was a final popping sound and all was quiet.

As the doctor bandaged Napoleon's bitten finger, he tried to wrap his head around his partners behavior. He was sleeping off the effects of the sleeping dart he'd had to shoot him with and the medical staff had jumped on the opportunity to give him as many tests as possible before he came to. There was nothing left to do but wait.

Two hours later Napoleon sat in the doctor's office looking at him like he had two heads. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His partner,one of UNCLE's finest; trained explosives expert; multi-lingual; trained killer was under the influence of a Thrush drug and intense regression therapy that left him with the capacity of a four year old. All the tests revealed nothing worthwhile and the doctors weren't willing to try any antidote for fear of causing more damage then good. They were left with a wait and see situation.

The following days were nerve racking for everyone. The medical staff learned that Illya had been regressed to his own childhood. He was reliving his own life but without being in war torn Kiev. He passed his days in bewilderment and panic not knowing where he was. He asked for his family; begging to let him see them. Through it all Napoleon was there. It broke his heart to see his partner going through so much pain.  
Slowly he gained Illya's trust and it became harder for him to leave him. Illya would panic and frantically beg him not to go. he would weep and plead for Napoleon to take him with him or to stay. Finally he could take it no longer and announced that he would be taking Illya to his office. It was agreed it could do no harm with medical a phone call away.

Napoleon explained the rules to Illya who could barely sit still. He would have to stay with Napoleon at all times and touch nothing and most importantly...no biting.

As excited as Illya was, once outside his room he quickly became overwhelmed and moved close to Napoleon and grabbed onto the back of his suit jacket. Napoleon stopped and looked back over his shoulder and cocked his eye brow at his partner. He yanked his jacket back and Illya immediately hid behind his hands. A little trick he used when he was afraid. The doctor explained that he figured if he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him. Napoleon sighed and took Illya's hands away from his eyes and gave him a warm smile and handed back the flap of his jacket.  
Illya smiled and happily followed Napoleon to their office.

If anyone had walked into the room, they would have assumed Napoleon was on his own. There was no sign of Illya anywhere. But if one came around the desk they would come upon him sitting behind Napoleon. He was leaning against him holding the paper airplanes Napoleon had made for him. When Napoleon had handed over the planes Illya had looked at them in awe with huge eyes and smiled. He had been very quiet and stayed in place for the whole time Napoleon had trudged through the mountain of paper work covering his desk. It wasn't till Napoleon became aware of his partners weight against his back that he checked his watch. Three hours had gone by and Illya hadn't moved or fussed or asked for a single thing. Napoleon felt guilty. He moved to turn and look at Illya to see that he had fallen asleep; clutching Napoleon's suit jacked he had removed to get comfortable.

Turning fully in his chair he gently shook the Russian awake. Illya shook his head and mumbled in Russian that he wanted to be left alone. Napoleon laughed. So his partner seemed to have always been hard to wake up. He shook him again and Illya's eyes snapped open and starred at him. There was the briefest of fright in his look before he recognized him and smiled.  
"Hey partner. How you feeling hmm?  
"I'm sleepy and want to go home. I want my Babushka.  
Napoleon knew that Illya had been raised by his grandmother for a great part of his life and had a deep bond with her. During some of his most serious illnesses and injuries he had called for her in fevered dreams.  
Again great big blue eyes looked at him from a pouting face and Napoleon couldn't look at him.  
He wondered how anyone could not give in to his wants when he looked at you with that face and those eyes.

Alexander Waverly had been in London for most of the week and was kept aware of the situation with Illya. He had read over the medical report twice and was eager to return to New York to see if any further information had come around. 

While Alexander Waverly's plane was circling the airport, Napoleon Solo was dashing around the block to a toy store. He wanted to get something for Illya to use when he wasn't able to pay him attention. It bothered Napoleon that Illya never asked for anything. Not even food. Most kids would have been crawling the walls or bouncing off them but he had simply sat behind Napoleon quietly. The paper airplanes still in the same condition as when he'd given them to him. 

He had left Illya sleeping on the couch in the office. He had asked Mandy from linguistics to come down and sit with him while he slipped out. She had been on her way out the door when an emergency call came to her station. She quickly forgot about her promise to Napoleon as the call snowballed.

As fate would have it, Ilya awoke to an empty room. He waited as long as a four year old could and went in search of Napoleon. Very few people new what was going on with the Russian so his wandering the halls didn't draw much attention. Luck was on his side and he came upon an open elevator. A helpful secretary pushed the button that brought him to Mr. Waverly's outer office as she stepped off.

Fate was again in his favor as the door to Waverly's office stood open. A technician was working on the key panel. No one saw him enter the office. The technician soon finished and closed the door; locking Illya in.

Napoleon entered his office with a bag full of what he hoped Illya would like and came to a dead stop. He looked around. No Mandy and no Illya. He checked under the desks, couch and in the closet and came up empty. He thought for a moment then pulled out his communicator and called Mandy.  
"Mandy my dear it's Napoleon, Where have you taken my partner?  
There was dead air for a moment. "Oh Napoleon I am so sorry. An emergency call came through and I got so busy I forgot about Illya. He's all right isn't he?'  
Napoleon hadn't said anything to Mandy about Illya's condition. Instead he had said he had been injured and was resting and Napoleon just thought it would be better safe than sorry to leave him alone.  
"Yes, yes he's fine. He must have gone out to get something to eat. I'll probably catch up with him in the commissary. Thanks any way Mandy." Great he thought. He left the office and began looking through the open rooms along the hall. Finding no sign of his partner, he began to feel a nagging pain at the back of his neck. Suddenly he sighed and returned to his office; chastising himself for not thinking like an agent. He called down to the agents entrance and asked if Illya was still in the building. The girl came back quickly and told him that Illya was still at Hq in Mr. Waverly's office.

Napoleon burst out of his office and ran for the elevator but changed direction at the last moment and used the stairs. He had to get to Illya before anyone else. Thank God Waverly was in London.  
He whipped open the stairwell door and rushed straight through to Waverly's office. He skidded to a halt as he saw Alexander Waverly holding his beloved pipe,now in two pieces. He also noticed that Waverly had one of his fingers wrapped in his kerchief. He looked around the room for Illya. His attention was drawn to Mr. Waverly when he cleared his throat and nodded his head towards the communication station. Napoleon moved around the large round desk and bent over. There back in the farthest corner was Illya.He had his eyes squeezed shut, clutching his paper airplanes and Napoleon's suit jacket. Napoleon shook his head realizing that the jacket was a lost cause and figured he wasn't even going to try to put it on his expense report. He looked back up at Mr. Waverly and smiled awkwardly.  
"Sir, if you'll allow me to explain....."  
"Mr. Solo. I am aware of Mr Kuryakin's condition. I have been kept abreast of this since he returned to hq." He took a deep breath. "What is unknown to me is how he came to be in my office unsupervised; how my favorite pipe came to be in two pieces and why Mr. Kuryakin found it necessary to bite me when I attempted to extricate him from beneath my communication panel.  
Napoleon cleared his throat and began to try and explain what had happened only to be floored by his partner who had finally surfaced from underneath the panel when he heard Napoleon's voice.

"POLEON!" Illya cried as he threw himself at Napoleon, knocking him over. Napoleon sat up and Illya gave him a big hug and refused to let go. He was babbling all the time demanding to know where he had been and why he had left. They were finally interrupted by a loud ah-hem which made Illya jump behind Napoleon. He slowly looked around his shoulder and stared at Mr. Waverly. Napoleon heard Illya gasp and then whisper "Dadushka?"  
"Mr. Solo would you please get up off the floor. I believe that Mr. Kuryakin should return to medical asap so that we may discuss our plans to rectify this situation. I believe.......'  
Illya rushed to Waverly smiling and talking and tried to hug the man. Mr. Waverly stepped back quickly keeping himself and his pipe at arms length from his agent. Illya stopped and his face began to crumble and his eyes shone with unshed tears. Waverly started to panic and Napoleon jumped in before any damage could be done.  
"Sir. Um I ah think that... ah.. Mr. Kuryakin is under the impression that you...ah.. are his Dadush....um grandfather.  
"And what of it?"  
"Well sir, he has been asking for his family and obviously we haven't got anyone for him so I really think it would be best if you went with it for now. He's obviously going to get very upset if you reject him."  
Well I ah...I really don't know....well what the devil do you expect me to do.?"  
"Nothing Sir. Just let him stay. He's really no trouble. You won't even know he's here really."

While they had been speaking, Illya had discovered that the large round table could actually move and had begun to spin it.On the third push round, the two pieces of pipe that Mr. Waverly had placed on it went sailing off and hit the wall. He heard rather than saw it break into more pieces and sat down with a weary sigh. There never was a dull moment with these two particular agents he thought as he rubbed his forehead. He opened his eyes and found Illya standing in front of him with the remains of his pipe and a soft apology. He smiled and took the pieces.  
"It's quite alright my boy." he said.  
Illya lunged at him and gave him a big hug and kissed each cheek Russian style. Waverly practically fell from his chair.  
"Rather more demonstrative that he usually is isn't he." he commented to Solo.  
"You have no idea." he replied and showed Waverly his bandaged finger.

Three more days passed with no break through. Then on the fourth, the med lab had made a discovery that helped explain what was happening with Illya. The Thrush drug that had been used was suppressing the part of the brain that retained memory. Through it and repeated regression, the mind would not allow older memories to return. Therefore the individual had no memories after a certain age. According to the files Uncle had retrieved when they found Illya, there was no way to reverse this process without removing the drug from the subject's system. None of the files contained the formula for the antidote. They were back to square one.

Illya stayed either with Napoleon or Mr. Waverly. He and Napoleon had set up housekeeping on the residence floor, where the rooms for visiting agents were. Napoleon and Waverly's secretary-Lisa Rogers( who was aware of the situation) went a little over-board fixing up a room for Illya. They knew that he had had very little when he was growing up so they found themselves trying to give Illya all the toys a little boy would love.  
Napoleon spent the day in Mr. Waverly's office going over monthly and mission reports. Lisa Rogers had taken Illya for a walk and to the gym so he could stretch his legs and get some exercise. He had had loads of fun on the equipment. Marc Slate and April Dancer had joined them and played several ball games with Illya. (they had been briefed on the situation so that they could take care of Illya when Napoleon couldn't) Illya was quite happy to return to Waverly's office and sat next to him with his picture books. He put one of the books on the old man's lap and looked at him smiling.  
Napoleon hid a smile behind his glass of scotch, while Mr. Waverly looked at Illya awkwardly.  
"I think he wants...."  
"I know what he wants Mr. Solo',he said gruffly ."I just cant get my head around the fact that I am dealing with a four year old that is the size of a 34 year old."  
Waverly cleared his throat and began to read to Illya. Illya lay down and curled up on his side with Napoleon's suit jacket tucked around an arm and the paper airplanes clutched in his hand. He stared at Mr.Waverly while he read but it wasn't long before Napoleon noticed his eyes getting heavy. Shortly he closed his eyes for good and Napoleon noticed his body relax.  
Mr.Waverly continued reading until Napoleon shushed him. Waverly glared at the man and was about to start a full blown dressing down when Napoleon pointed to Illya. Seeing what had happened, Waverly smiled and signaled Solo to join him in the hall.  
"Mr. Solo. Why don't you take the opportunity to go have some dinner. You haven't had a moment to yourself for quite a few days I'm sure you could appreciate it."  
Napoleon looked bewildered. He couldn't believe the old man was offering to watch Illya on his own. He was under the impression that he would have preferred to be anywhere else even at the mercy of Thrush than to be alone with the Russian.  
Ah ...thank you sir. That would be nice. Are you sure?  
"Yes of course my dear fellow. I'm sure I can find some work to finish and Mr. Kuryakin is resting. Go. Relax. Who knows when you will have the chance again."  
Napoleon headed for the door but was stopped by Mr. Waverly. "Mr.Solo I believe that when you return we should discuss what course of action we will need to take in regards to this situation with Mr. Kuryakin. We cannot continue in the manner in which we are currently going. Permanent arrangements will have to be made. He cannot spend the rest of his life living with you in head quarters."  
Napoleon nodded and looked back at his partner. He had been thinking the exact thing Waverly had said. He didn't know what the answer to the problem was. What he did know was that he would not abandon his partner. Nothing and no one would come between him and Illya. He owed his partner his life and would do what ever was needed to make sure he was safe. Even if it meant leaving UNCLE.

When Napoleon returned from his dinner, Illya had been moved to his room on the residence floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he headed straight for his partner's room. He smiled at the orderly who was on duty and quietly entered the darkened room. He stopped at the sight of his partner curled on his side, suit jacket tucked under his arm and paper planes on his pillow. His smile was tinged with sadness as he took in the relaxed expression on Illya's face. He realized he had never seen the look on his partner's face ever. He carefully tucked the blanket up and turned to go.  
"Poleon?" He turned back to see his partner trying to sit up,rub sleep from his eyes and yawn like a bear all at the same time. His eyes were full of sleep and he smiled dopely at Napoleon.  
"Hey little partner mine. Did I wake you up? Illya flat out lied.  
"Nyet. Not sleeping. Just resting my eyes." Napoleon laughed and tousled Illya's hair. He stopped and felt his forehead. Frowning a little, he called out to the orderly.

The orderly came in right away and checked Illya's temperature. He was a little warm but he reassured Napoleon that there was nothing to worry about. He left and Napoleon got Illya settled again. He wished him a good night and left the room. Getting half way to his room he stepped back into an alcove and waited. Sure enough within seconds Illya crept from his room and headed towards Napoleon's room. Napoleon let him pass by then stepped out and called to him."Hey!  
Where are you going mister?" Illya practically jumped out of his skin and spun around. Eyes big as saucers, a terrified look on his face. Napoleon ran to him. "No,no,no. It's alright. I'm just joking. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not mad."Illya let out a big sigh and began biting his lower lip.  
"Where are you going Illya?" Illya turned red and looked at his feet. Napoleon wasn't sure what to do. Finally he took Illya to his room and had him sit down while he washed up and changed for bed. While in the shower he figured he'd take Illya back to his room and stay with him till he fell asleep. "Okay partner mine, lets get you ba....." Illya was sleeping in the middle of Napoleon's bed.  
There was an urgent knock at the door and the orderly opened it before Napoleon could. He looked a little panicked until he saw Illya.  
"Sorry Mr. Solo. I was in the bathroom."  
"It's alright. I thought he was suppose to be sedated.?"  
"They 're running a little behind. They're short-handed. Someone called in sick. They're here now."  
A nurse came in carrying a tray with a needle and ampule of pale gold fluid. She smiled tightly at Napoleon and stepped over to Illya. "This patient should be in his own room." she stated. She wiped a spot on Illya's arm and plunged the needle in. Illya awoke with a yelp and panicked when he saw he was surrounded. He scrambled up against the head board rubbing his arm and glaring at the nurse. Napoleon questioned her bedside manner and she bluntly replied." I'm not in the mood to be bitten again Mr. Solo. Like I said, he should be in his own bed. Unless it's customary for you to share...."She left the question unfinished and left the room.  
"I guess she's not a fan." The orderly remarked as he left the room closing the door behind him.  
Illya was watching Napoleon like a hawk. When he moved Illya tried to put more space between them. Napoleon frowned and sat on the bed. He watched Illya until the drug started to take effect. He had to laugh as he watched his partner try to fight the effects. He spoke softly and slowly until Illya relaxed and finally succumbed to the sedative. Napoleon maneuvered him to lay properly on the bed under a blanket and then lay down beside him. He stared up at the ceiling and listened to his partner's breathing. He had done this so often when Illya had been sick or injured.

Several hours later, Napoleon became aware of a whining noise. He slowly realized the noise was coming from Illya. He turned to his partner, and called his name.  
"Illya? Are you okay?  
"Nyet. Hurts Poleon." He was up and around the bed in an instant. Illya was curled up in a ball, holding his stomach and breathing heavily. Napoleon felt his forehead it was as hot as a stove. He went to the door, pulled it open and called for the orderly, who came running. Taking one look at Illya he called down to medical and told them they were on their way down. Placing Illya on the gurney was quite difficult. He cried out in pain, threw up and called out for family. Napoleon had a lump in his throat all the way to medical.

The diagnosis was quick in coming. Appendicitis. But the look on the doctor's face told Napoleon there was more to it. He and Mr. Waverly, who had joined him almost immediately, sat down at the doctors urging and listened carefully.  
"Gentlemen we have a grave problem on our hands. Normally we would simply go in and get the appendix and that would be the end of it. But in Mr. Kuryakin's case we have no idea what chemicals were in the drug that he was given. We have no idea what putting him under could do to him. Our hands are tied. We don't operate and his appendix will eventually burst and kill him. We operate and the anesthesia may corrupt the drugs already in his system and cause irreversible damage or even death. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't."  
The silence that followed was heavy. Finally Napoleon let out the breath he wasn't aware he had been holding. Looking at both the doctor and Mr. Waverly he simply stated,"We have to do something. We cant just sit here and watch Illya slowly die."  
"Of course we can"t Mr. Solo."answered Waverly. "It seems to me that Mr.Kuryakin"s chances are best situated with the removal of his appendix. Of course the ultimate decision lies with you Mr.Solo."  
"Sir" Napoleon looked at Waverly in confusion.  
"You have power of attorney over Mr. Kuryakin's wills. Property and living will. He left instructions for you to make a final decision in case such a situation should arise. You were not aware of this?"  
Napoleon did remember the conversation he and Illya had had in the middle of a gun fight. He had not realized Illya had been serious. He and his partner were going to have to have a talk. They needed to make sure that they knew every thing they needed to know before they headed out into the field again.

Illya's appendix broke as he was wheeled into surgery. When he was finally wheeled out the doctor informed Napoleon and Mr. Waverly that he had done all he could and it was now up to Illya's body to fight any infection that might occur. There was no way of knowing what if any problems would occur with the Thrush drug. They were at the mercy of time now. With that the doctor left instructions that he be called immediately should any changes occur and that Napoleon get some rest. He didn't want two section 2's in medical at the same time.

By morning Illya was feverish and sleeping fitfully. The doctors discovered that the thrush drug had been depleted by a third from his system. What, if anything it meant they did not know. They were still at the mercy of wait and see.

Illya was dreaming. He was with his grandparents in their little cottage in Kiev. His mother had gone for food, taking his brother and sister with her. Soldiers were suddenly at the door and they hid deep in the root cellar. He heard the foot steps over head and the breaking of furniture and dishes. He was shaking so hard he thought he would break his teeth. He had fallen asleep with his babushka holding him so hard he could hardly breathe. When he woke up all was quiet and he was alone. He crept from the root cellar and made his way towards the voices of his grandparents above. He heard his babushka crying and his dadushka said a bad word and let out a brief sob. Illya was scared, Something was very wrong. He tried not to move forward but couldn't stop himself. Slowly he opened the cellar door, terrified. He began to move into the room shaking and closing his eyes. He didn't want to be there. He wanted to turn back and hide back in the cellar. But his feet betrayed him and he shuffled forwards. He heard his babushka gasp and he opened his eyes and began to scream.

Napoleon burst into the room upon hearing the scream from his partner. Followed closely by the doctor and Mr. Waverly. The bed was empty but he could hear Illya's crying. It was coming from under the bed. Without a word both he and Mr. Waverly got down on their hands and knees to get closer to the Russian. Illya had curled up in the farthest corner and covered his head with Napoleon's suit jacket. He was rocking back and forth and whimpering. Napoleon gently touched his partner's knee and called to him. There was no response. Waverly spoke softly and got a small reaction. Illya brought the jacket down far enough so he could see the two men. After assuring him he was quite safe, they managed to get him out from under and sitting on the bed.  
Food was brought in and he dove on the juice gulping it down as fast as he could. He ate in silence but would become distressed if either Napoleon or Mr. Waverly made to leave. They stayed for an hour before Mr. Waverly had no choice but to leave. Napoleon distracted Illya with the new planes he had bought for him and Waverly made his escape.

Illya slept fitfully for the rest of the day. He called for his Babushka and struggled against who knew what. Napoleon watched his partner's struggles. He felt useless and he became more frustrated as he watched his partner suffer. It was hard to wrap his mind around the situation. Illya looked like himself but Napoleon knew it was a four year old Illya that was fighting demons in his dreams. Illya suddenly sat up with a loud cry and looked around frantically. Seeing Napoleon, he scrambled out from under the covers and tried to get out of bed. Napoleon stopped him before he could. But Illya was trying his best to get around him. "No Illya. You need to stay in bed. You can't get up."  
The doctor and Mr. Waverly entered at that moment and Illya called to Mr.Waverly, "Dadushka! Help me please!"  
Waverly was at his side in two steps and was trying to get him to settle. As he talked soothingly to Illya, Napoleon grabbed his arms and the doctor jabbed him with a hypo filled with a sedative. Illya slowly fell back into bed unconscious. Napoleon and Waverly tucked him back into bed, and followed the doctor out of the room.

"Gentlemen.I am at a loss regarding what next to do for Mr. Kuryakin. I was hoping that the decrease in the Thrush drug would help dislodge some of his memories but so far nothing has been able to happen because he has been sedated. I want to see if Mr. Kuryakin can bring about his own memories. But I don't think this can happen while he is sedated. We need to let him remain awake long enough to see if he is able to get past the regression therapy that the Thrush doctors did to him."  
"Doctor?",Waverly questioned." Will Mr. Kuryakin's memory be restored completely at once?"  
"No ,no. It will need to be done as slowly as possible. The shock could be quite dangerous. His memories may be out of order and he may even confuse them with reality."  
Mr. Waverly began to slowly pace around the hall. He finally came to a halt in front of Napoleon and the doctor.  
"Gentlemen, we seem to have a more serious problem at hand then first anticipated." He looked at the two men quite seriously. "Mr. Kuryakin is privy to some very sensitive information and experiences. Not being in complete control of his faculties leaves himself and Uncle in a very vulnerable place. If he were to fall into Thrush's hands, they could garner many important secrets and glean a greater understanding of Uncle operations. With the information that young man has in his head, Thrush could seriously jeopardize Uncle's efficiency and power. We cannot let Mr. Kuryakin outside of UNCLE."  
"Sir? Are you suggesting that ah.....you now feel that Mr.Kuryakin cannot ever leave UNCLE hq?  
Waverly took his time to carefully word his reply. "Yes Mr. Solo. That is exactly what I am saying."  
" But a few days ago you spoke of making arrangements for Mr. Kuryakin if his situation did not look to be improving."  
" Yes I did say that and I still believe it to be true. However knowing what we know now, he cannot be allowed to leave and I still believe he cannot live out his life here either." Napoleon looked from Waverly to the doctor in confusion. The doctor could not meet his eyes. Understanding began to dawn on Napoleon and he starred at Waverly incredulously.  
"There has to be something else we can do. Can't we keep his memories locked up?  
"Napoleon? Do you really think that that is how Mr. Kuryakin would like to spend the rest of his life?" Waverly said putting a hand on his shoulder. "It is not an easy decision that will have to be made. Rest assured every possibility will be explored before I give any consideration as to a permanent solution for Mr. Kuryakin.'  
"Thank you sir." Napoleon was at a loss for any more words and simply turned back to Illya's room. He quietly slipped in and approached his sleeping partner. As he watched a play of emotions crossed his face and furrowed his brow. He placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled when Illya sighed at the contact and relaxed. Illya"s head turned on the pillow and he opened his eyes and looked straight at Napoleon. "Napoleon? Help me?" Before Napoleon could react, Illya had passed out. Napoleon decided there and then that he would do everything in his power to help get his partner back to his 34 year old self.

Nine weeks had passed since they had found Illya Kuryakin in a THRUSH lab and he was still the same four year old. As time went by more people began to realize that something was not right with UNCLE's number one team. Rumors began to circulate about Illya Kuryakin's absence from the field and offices and how much time Napoleon Solo was spending at hq. Waverly put a stop to all the speculation with a well worded reminder of UNCLE policy. He also used the rumor mill to plant a story that Solo and Kuryakin were working on a top secret affair.--+

Napoleon Solo was finishing off paper work when he received a phone call from medical. They told him Illya had been hurt and was being brought in by Mark Slate who had taken him to the gym for some play time. Napoleon arrived in medical and could hear a loud argument coming from one of the examining rooms. He shook his head and pushed open the door. He stood in silence and watched as Illya and Mark continued fighting.  
"It bloody was not my fault! You didn't listen. I told you not to go on the climbing wall but you went anyway......" Mark was yelling at Illya.  
"Nyet Nyet Nyet. You no say no. I no fall if you no yell! Your fault not me!" Illya yelled back. He sat back on the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He glared at Marc.  
"Don't you look at me like that you little......."  
"Mark!" Both the doctor and Napoleon called a warning to Mark. Illya jumped off the chair and tried to rush to Napoleon but a sprained ankle stopped him short.  
"Whoa little partner mine. What happened. Both Illya and Mark began talking at the same time. Napoleon raised his hand for silence.  
"I am going to assume that the ankle sprain is a result of a mishap on the climbing wall. Ah ah ah!" He held up his hand as Mark started to speak. "I've had a long day so why don't we just let it go for now. Illya made a small noise in his throat and looked smugly at Mark who glared at the Russian. "That doesn't mean that we aren't going to discuss the matter later on Illya." Napoleon sternly said to his partner. It was Mark's turn to look smugly at Illya.who glared back at him.  
Mark left and Illya's ankle was bandaged up quickly. He and Napoleon headed up to their rooms stopping for a pizza Napoleon had ordered earlier. It was Illya's favorite.  
After they ate Napoleon sent Illya to get a board game for them to play. Hurrying to his room Illya came to an abrupt stop when he got to the shelf where he kept the paper planes Napoleon had made for him. They were gone. He quickly checked under his shelf and bed but found nothing. The more he searched the more he began to panic and a lump began forming in his throat. Wondering what was taking so long, Napoleon went to see what Illya had gotten up to. He stopped in the doorway and observed the Russian fury that was his partner flinging toys and stuffed animals off shelves and the trunk at the end of his bed. He called out to him before he could start throwing books of the shelf. Illya turned and looked at Napoleon. Never had he seen his partner look so distraught. Illya collapsed to his knees and let out a keening wail of anguish. It seemed to come from his soul and Napoleon was by his side immediately.  
"Illya! Illya! What is it? What's wrong? What's happened?" Napoleon grasped him by the shoulders and made him look at him.  
Through hiccups and his tears Illya yelled, "My planes! They're gone. I put them on shelf and now they're gone!"  
Napoleon smiled at him. "It's okay. They were just paper. I can make more for you."  
"Nyet!!" Illya yelled. "You made them for me. No one else made planes for me. I want those planes. I want them back."  
"Illya I don't know where they went. I can make the same ones over again."  
"Nyet!!" Illya screamed so loud Napoleaon thought for sure Mr Waverly would hear him in his office.  
He was at a loss as to what to do. He blew out a sigh and tried to calm Illya down. He reached out to him but he suddenly pulled away and grabbed his head. He curled up on the ground and squeezed his eyes shut. Napoleon was about to call down to medical when as suddenly as it started, the pain stopped. Illya lay on the floor breathing heavily his heart was pounding against his ribs. He became aware of Napoleon rubbing his back and murmuring words to calm him. He opened his eyes and looked at Napoleon. For a fleeting moment Naploeon would have sworn that the Illya that stared at him was his 32 year old partner. But Illya shook his head and in a soft voice asked Napoleon, "What is wrong with me?" Napoleon wasn't sure what to say.  
" Well.....your planes are missing and you got upset...."  
'Nyet. Nyet." He said as he shook his head. He then raised his hand and put it up against Napoleon's. He looked at his partner and asked again what was wrong with him. Napoleon was again at a loss for words. Should he try to explain the situation. Would it cause trouble for Illya.  
How much should he say? How much would he understand? He decided he needed to discuss this with the doctors and Mr. Waverly. A huge yawn from his partner brought his attention back to him. He smiled and got up off the floor pulling his partner up with him. He got Illya to get ready for bed and sat with him. 

Something was tickling his nose. Napoleon brushed at it and hit something solid. He opened his eyes and for a moment was clueless to where he was. He looked around and realized he had fallen asleep on top of the covers of Illya's bed. The something solid he hit was Illya's head. His partner was curled up next to him , blankets pulled up to and over his head. He had put his head on Napoleon's shoulder and it was his hair that had tickled his nose and woken him up. Carefully Napoleon eased out of bed. Illya rolled over mumbling but did not wake. He left his partner and showered and dressed. 

Napoleon went straight to medical where he met Mr.Waverly and the doctor. He explained what had happened with Illya the night before. He also told them about the two times he could have sworn the 32 year old Illya had looked at him.  
"He knows that there is something different about him." Napoleon concluded.  
"I'll order some tests and do a comparison to his first blood work. Maybe we'll find something new." the doctor concluded.."We'll see if there's been any change in the thrush drug levels.  
There has to be something were not seeing." The doctor's frustration was quite evident as Waverly and Solo left his office.

Napoleon made his way back to their rooms to see if Illya was up yet. He hoped that his partner had gotten some well needed rest after the rough evening before. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out but stopped abruptly. A tower of tinker toys was making its way out of Illya`s doorway.  
Napoleon tilted his head and slowly made his way to the room`s opening. Peering in he burst out laughing at the scene before him. Illya and Mark Slate were both on the ground busily building a crazy structure from several barrels of tinker toys. Both men looked up when they heard Napoleon.  
"Poleon!" Illya squealed and jumped up and ran towards him. But he stopped when he realized that he couldn't reach him because the door way was blocked. Illya frowned and chewed on his thumb trying to figure out a way to get out of his room. It was Marc who came to the rescue, lifting the structure so that Illya could wiggle underneath it and reach Napoleon. Illya gave Napoleon a great big hug and danced around him as he showed him what he and Mark had built. Napoleon laughed at how proud he was and ruffled his hair. Illya smiled then suddenly looked confused.  
"Mark! Now you are stuck!", he exclaimed. He tried to hide the smile and laughter at the other man's predicament. But failed and burst into a fit of giggles. Mark and Napoleon looked at each other. Illya had never struck them as the giggling type. They too began to laugh. 

Suddenly Illya doubled over holding his head. He called out to Napoleon who was at his side immediately. Mark broke through the tinker toys and went to Illya's other side.  
"Poleon. Hurts. Make go away. This time Illya was in a lot more pain then the night before. He signaled to Mark and they maneuvered him into the elevator and rushed to medical. Napoleon used his communicator to warn medical they were on their way. Illya had his head tucked on Napoleon's shoulder and clinging to his jacket. He hissed as the pain continued and began to whimper. Napoleon rubbed his back and tried to sooth him with soft words. The elevator doors opened and a gurney was waiting for them. Illya struggled to stay with Napoleon, who had to help lift him onto the gurney. The staff whisked him away and stopped Napoleon from following them into the exam room. Napoleon stared through the small windows of the door even though there was nothing to see. Slowly he turned away and looked at Mark.

Mark watched the play of emotions on Napoleon's face. He knew that this whole situation had been hard on Solo. He and the Russian were not just partners. They were friends. Close as two brothers; if not more. He didn't like to think of how Napoleon was going to react if the situation with his partner took a bad turn. He was concerned for them both.

Alexander Waverly rushed off the elevator and joined the two agents in the waiting area.  
He demanded to know what had happened. The doctor joined them just as Napoleon finished explaining to the old man what had happened.The three men turned on the physician with expectant looks.  
"No this isn't a bit intimidating at all." he proclaimed as he stared back at them." He's okay for now."  
The pain seems to have passed for now. We gave him something to help relax but he's still pretty agitated. Sorry we left you out of it Napoleon but we weren't sure what we were dealing with."

"What is going on with Mr.Kuryakin doctor?" Waverly questioned.  
The doctor sighed and sat down." Damned if I know." He shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face. " I have no idea what is going on or what to do." The doctor kept shaking his head and looking at the floor."I'm failing him gentlemen." he admitted quietly. The silence in the small area was like a heavy blanket. None of them knew what to say to him. Napoleon headed towards the examination room but was stopped by a nurse coming out.  
"I'm sorry Mr. Solo you can't go in. He's resting at the moment."  
The doctor spoke up. "It's alright nurse. Mr. Solo has my permission to see and stay with Mr. Kuryakin."Solo side stepped the nurse and went to be with Illya.

When the doctor had left them, Waverly turned to Mark and with a voice heavy with emotion said,"Mr. Slate find me someone who can tell me what has been done to my agent." Mark left with a guarantee he would be back soon with help for the distraught agents.

But Mark would find nothing. Through all his contacts and informants no one knew a thing that could help Illya. It was beyond frustrating. Not one THRUSH agent they captured and interrogated could give them any information about what had been done to Kuryakin. When he returned to headquarters it was with great disappointment and sadness. His hopes were starting to wane.

Solo entered Illya's room quietly. His partner lay curled on his side; a slight frown on his face. As he approached him, Illya mumbled and turned over. He seemed to be dreaming. Illya tossed and turned and cried out. He was definitely dreaming. Napoleon rushed to his side and put a firm hand on Illya's shoulder to try to settle him. It stopped the thrashing about but he didn't wake up. Napoleon began talking to him in a subdued tone trying to calm him. Suddenly Illya sat up and looked at Napoleon and began talking about one of their missions from the first year they were partnered. It was as if the old Illya was back but Napoleon could tell Illya was not awake. His hands worked as if he was fixing something and he kept looking at Napoleon while going over their plans to blow up the THRUSH satrap they had discovered in Brazil. Napoleon rang for the doctor who came immediately followed by Mr. Waverly. Solo signaled them to be quiet and listen to Illya.  
"There. The timer is set Napoleon. We best be on our way. Do you have the micro-film?" Illya asked. "Napoleon! Do you have the microfilm?" The doctor signaled Solo to answer.  
"Ah...yeah. I've got it right here partner." Illya nodded and with a sigh lay back down in the bed.  
He was back to regular sleep in no time. Napoleon looked at the doctor and said,"What the hell was that all about?"  
He signaled for Waverly and Solo to follow him into the hall.  
"That gentlemen was Mr. Kuryakin reliving a memory. I believe he has been doing so for a few days now in his sleep. That little scene just proves it. As the Thrush drug works it's way out of his system, the brain is starting to work properly again. He is getting his memories back. However they are coming back in what seems to be no special order."  
"You mean to say that Mr. Kuryakin will be experiencing life events at random with no warning.?"' Mr. Waverly asked to make sure he followed what the doctor was saying.  
The doctor nodded and Waverly and Solo exchanged glances. A nurse approached the doctor and they left to take care of another patient. Mr. Waverly looked at Napoleon gravely. Solo thought he knew what was troubling his boss. Illya was privy to several top secret pieces of information. If he were to relive any memory from a particular mission there would be a severe breach of security.  
"Well Mr. Solo" he huffed."It seems we have a bigger problem at hand. I believe that we have two avenues with which to deal with Mr. Kuryakin. We can wait until he regains his full memory on his own or..." he paused and looked Solo in the eye.  
"We deprogram him." The silence following the statement was thick and heavy. Napoleon ran a hand across his face and walked to the door to Illya's room and looked at his partner through the small window. The thought of his partner being deprogrammed gave him a throbbing headache. He suddenly felt much older than his 35 years. He wanted to scream and rant and cry and lash out all at the same time.He hated feeling helpless. It made him feel weak and stupid and angry. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the old man's voice right behind him.  
"Napoleon.", Waverly said."We will do everything in our power to fix Mr. Kuryakin before any formal decision will be made. Rest assured you will be included in any and all discussion regarding your partner."  
"Thank you Sir." replied Napoleon. It was all he could do to keep himself in check.  
Waverly cleared his throat and pulled out his pipe. "Now. You will keep Mr. Kuryakin with you in your rooms. No excursions to the gymnasium or the ice cream parlour around the corner. And for God's sake man tell Mr. Slate that he is not to fly planes,kites or balloons off the roof. It's a miracle THRUSH hasn't launched a full out attack on he and Mr. Kuryakin."  
"Yes Sir." Napoleon said trying hard to not show his great relief and joy at Waverly's words. "I'll take care of it right away"  
"See that you do. Ms. Dancer and Mr. Slate will be your only other source of help until this matter is taken care of. I don't want anyone hearing anything. Understood?"  
"Yes Sir."  
Napoleon took Illya back to their rooms. He was back to his 4year old self and quite cranky for being woken up. He piled into bed without fuss but called out when Napoleon tried to leave the room. Napoleon sat on the edge of the bed and tucked the blankets up around his partner.  
"Illya it's time for sleep."  
"Poleon stay with me."  
"No. Pole...Napoleon is going to bed in his room."  
"Nyett. Stay" Illya asked with a pout . Napoleon knew that look and steeled himself against it's effect on him.  
"Why do I have to stay hmmm?" he asked.  
"So bad man not come."Illya replied sitting up.  
"What bad man?"  
Illya pointed to his head and whispered to Napoleon."In here. Bad man makes me scared and I don't want to sleep."  
"Oh" Napoleon smiled warmly at Illya."It's okay little partner mine. The bad man isn't real. You're just having a bad dream. Thats all. The bad man can't really hurt you." Illya looked at him skeptically. Solo tucked him back in and said good night. Illya looked at him with big eyes and said a soft good night. As Napoleon turned off the light he watched as Illya snuggled deeper under the blanket and pulled the suit jacket he still had closer.  
"You'll be okay Illya. I'll be just next door." He closed the door but not all the way and headed for a shower and bed.

Napoleon was dreaming of warm sun and a warm female against his skin. He reached out to turn his paramour around. She looked at him with familiar blue eyes than shrieked like a hyena. Napoleon jerked awake and heard the shriek again. It was coming from Illya. He jumped out of bed and stubbed his toe on the bed frame and hit his knee on a table in the hall. Bursting into the room he ran smack into Illya who was on his way out.  
Illya grabbed him by the arm and swung him around and pushed him back out the door.  
"Come on Napoleon! The alarm has been tripped. We need to get out of here!"  
To say Napoleon was confussed was a gross understatement. He went along with Illya as he pushed him down the hall then stopped at the elevator. Illya looked around confussed.  
"I don't remember this elevator."He rubbed his head and turned back towards his room.  
"I can't remember which way." Napoleon took him by the elbow and guided him back to his room.  
Illya kept mumbling and looking around not sure where he was. Napoleon got him back inrto bed and as before he lay down and went back to sleep. Napoleon let out a sigh and sat down in the chair by the bed. He got comfortable and watched his partner sleep until he finally drifted off.

The next ten days were trying to say the least. Both men slept any time they could. Illya was dreaming almost every time he closed his eyes and Napoleon found himself re-enacting parts of missions at the drop of a hat. and just to keep things interesting Illya would act through some part of his childhood that would throw Napoleon for a loop. He was so happy to see Mark and April that he almost ran laughing to his bed.

Several hours later he awoke to shouting and banging. He let out a heavy sigh and rolled out of bed. As he opened the door he could hear Mark and Illya arguing (again?) and April yelling at Mark (again?) Suddenly the three appeared and rushed past him. "Duck Napoleon!" Mark called out as they rushed around the corner. Napoleon quickly ducked back into his room as a loud thump was heard. He waited for any more sounds. When none came he poked his head out the door. What he saw didn't impress him at all. Smoke was coming from the small kitchenette down the hall along with the smell of burning wires. The others joined him as he cautiously looked into the small room.  
A charred toaster was lying on the floor, it's cord smoldering. Napoleon let out another sigh and turned to the others for an explanation. Illya was the first to break. "I made it blow up Napoleon!" he exclaimed. Two things Solo noted; first; Illya was no longer behaving like a four year old. Second; he was quite proud of what he had done. Solo was almost afraid to ask...almost.  
"Illya,"he began."Why did you blow up the toaster? And how exactly did you blow it up?"  
Illya smiled. I wanted to see if I could booby trap it. I used the stuff Mark brought." Solo closed his eyes to calm himself then turned to Mark.  
"Look Napoleon I just brought some junk over for him and I to tinker with. I didn't think he would be able to do anything with it." Napoleon let out a third long sigh.  
"Mark do us all a favor."  
"Sure anything."  
"Don't ever have children!" 

The most frustrating thing about it all was Illya always reverted back to a four year old. In one day alone he went from being a toddler to a sullen teenager to a sneaky eight year old. The teenager followed April everywhere; the four year old would only deal with Napoleon and the eight year old had been responsible for the toaster incident. He and Mark got along famously. He also suffered from debilitating headaches and spent a lot of time in bed. This allowed dreaming which caused him to have more headaches. It was a never ending cycle that was taking it's toll on everyone.

They had decided that it would be safest if someone stayed with Illya at all times. Napoleon was to be summoned as soon as Illya began playing through a memory. He alone would stay with Illya, re-enacting sequences from past missions with his partner. He learned some interesting facts about things that happened to his partner during some of the missions. Somehow these facts had not been included in the final mission report. He learned that some of the torture that Illya had been subjected to was much worse than he had let on. Mother Love, a demented THRUSH agent had included sexual torture as well as flogging the Russian. Angelique had threatened to kill Napoleon in order to get information and had watched happily as he had been beaten and tortured to no avail.  
He relived the moment when Ilya had been exposed to a gas that left him terrified out of his mind. That was just as difficult as the original time.

There were moments from Illya's personal life that he relived too. The worst was when he went through the loss of his family. It brought Napoleon to tears as he held a weeping and terrified 4 year old who called for his mother and babushka until he fell back into dreamless sleep.

They were moving into their third week when medical requested that Illya be brought down. Napoleon went to get him and found him sitting on his bed surrounded by his paper planes and Napoleon's jacket tucked under his arm. He was staring into space; a look of sadness on his face.  
He turned big solemn eyes towards Napoleon and gave a big sigh. Napoleon fought back a wave of emotion. This had been so very hard on his partner. Though he may not understand what was going on, Napoleon thought for sure that somewhere deep down Illya knew.

Once in medical, the doctor had the nurse take Illya into another room so he could discuss things with Napoleon and Mr. Waverly who had been asked to come to medical as well.  
"Gentlemen.",he began, "We may have a way of getting our Mr. Kuryakin back. Our people found a file amidst all the paperwork brought in along with Mr. Kuryakin the night he was found. One of the researchers dropped the file and it spilled it's papers all over. While collecting them they saw his name on several papers and began decoding emmediately. It took them 10 days."  
He paused to look at the two men.They were staring at the doctor opened mouth.  
"You mean to tell me we have had the answer to this situation within our reach since the very beginning." Waverly questioned in a tone that all knew was dangerously deceiptive. He was angry beyond anything any one had ever witnessed.  
"Hold on Sir. Before you loose your temper you have to understand there were over 250 files brought in that night. Section Four has been burning the midnight oil since then. Trying to find the solution to this situation. Moral has been pretty low over the last few weeks. They aren't stupid. They knew there was something going on and it effected Mr. Kuryakin. They felt every failure was a reflection of their work. They've been beating themselves up the last few weeks." Waverly harumphed and looked at Napoleon.  
"What needs to be done" Napoleon asked. The lump in his throat made it impossible to say anything more.  
"We found the transcript of when Illya was hypnotized. We have the key to unlocking the barrier that they put up to stop him from waking up. Now that the drug isn't effecting his brain function we should be able to reverse anything that THRUSH did."  
"Should?"  
The doctor sighed heavily."Look Napoleon; we don't know if they've placed a failsafe to stop anyone reversing their handywork."  
"...and if they did?" The doctor looked at each man uneasily."We could loose Mr. Kuryakin completely. He could remain 4 for the rest of his life or become mentally incapacitated. We don't know" Napoleon looked at Mr. Waverly. What he saw in the old man's face almost over-whelmed him completely. Alexander Waverly, his head hung down pulled a hankerchiff from his pocket and wiped his face. He couldn't remember ever having such a difficult and emotional ordeal to go through. Regaining his composure, he looked at the doctor and Napoleon.  
"Well then,". he stated standing up. "Best get to it then Doctor. Let me know the minute you know anything.......no matter what time." He turned and walked to the elevator and entered without turning around. The others watched until the door slid shut.

Napoleon turned to the doctor and asked if he could see Illya before they began. The doctor led him to the room and removed himself and the nurse to give Solo some privacy. Illya was looking through his book on planes. He gave a big smile when he saw Napoleon but it turned to a slight frown with confussion when he noticed Napoleon didn't look happy.  
"I do something wrong Poleon?",he shyly asked.  
Napoleon gave him a big smile and ruffled his hair. "No little partner mine." he said as he sat next to him and took the book from him. "Illya," he began. The Russian turned and looked at Napoleon with big eyes and a solomn expression. Napoleon swallowed suddenly feeling anxious and unsure of what to say. He cleared his throat and turned towards Illya.  
"Um... the ...ah...doctor is going to come and get you soon.....and take you for some tests.  
Illya jumped off the chair with a resounding "Nyet! No doctor! No test. I want to go home Polya! Where is Dadushka? I want to see him. Where is he !" Illya was getting louder and more upset. Napoleon was trying to calm him down when the door slowly opened and Mr. Waverly came in carrying a glass of juice on a tray with some biscuits.  
"What is all the excitement about in here?"  
"No more test! Poleon want me to do more test. Tell him I dont have to Dadushka. Please?  
The old man looked at Illya with a kind smile and steered him to the couch and sat him down. He gave him the tray and turned to Solo with a wink and a nod to the juice. Napoleon caught on and smiled at the old man. Illya drank all the juice and nibbled at the biscuits. It wasn't long before his head began to droop and his eyes could no olonger stay open. Napoleon caught him as he slouched forward and hugged him. He missed his partner and felt so useless in trying to help.

The doctor and nurses came in and lay Illya gently on a gurney and took him away. The doctor turned to the two men before he left and said,"I don't know how long this is going to take and what the results are going to be but know that we are doing everything we can to bring back our Mr. Kuryakin. He may be a pain in the ass patient but he is ours and we want him back just as badly as you do." He let the door close quietly behind him. Nappoleon knew the doctor was wrong. No one wanted Illya back more than he did.

Four hours later Napoleon was dozing on the couch in the room that Illya would be brought back to when they were finished. He had gone to his office to try to do some paper work but gave up almost as soon as he had started.He went back to medical and paced the waiting room until the nurse showed him to Illya's room. April and Marc had brought him a coffee and sandwich. He downed the coffee and politely nibbled at the food. When they left he had wraped it up and dumped it in the garbage. He paced some more then threw himself on the couch and closed his eyes.

It was the noise of bedding being fluffed that woke him up. A little disoriented at first, he came to his senses in a flash when he saw Illya in the bed. His partner was pale and had dark smudges under his eyes. He quietly moved to the bedside and leaned close so he could whisper in his ear.  
"I'm hear partner mine. You're safe." He swallowed against the lump in his throat. An ahem from the doorway got his attention and he turned to see the doctor signaling for him to follow. Reluctantly he did.

Napoleon followed the doctor to his office and sat down  
The doctor sat behind his desk with a heavy sigh. He hadn't been this tired in a long time.  
He looked at the CEA in front of him and wondered for the millionth time what made a man do the job he does. Napoleon looked back at him with an expectant look and a dry mouth. His nerves were humming and he thought he would loose his composure if the doctor didn't tell him something about Illya The doctor placed his hands flat on the desk and cleared his throut.  
"Well. We seem to have made a break-through with your partner. It wasn't easy. He's one stubborn individual and our training is top notch. We had to dig out all our training indoctrination to get to THRUSH's hypnotic suggestions. Then we had to put everything back. Then we had to reverse the memory block and bring him up to the proper age. It was tough. There were a few times I though we lost him. But he's a tough s.o.b.  
"Will he be alright?' questioned Napoleon."Are there going to be side effects of any sort.?'  
"We don't know. He was exhausted by the time we were done. He couldn't form a coherant  
thought much less answer any questions. I'm not sure what shape he's going to be in when he wakes up. I can't even tell you if there will be any lingering effects of our procedure or that of THRUSH. We just have to wait and see."  
Napoleon could only nod. He talked with the doctor for another 20 minutes then headed back to Illya. He figured it was going to be a long night.

He quietly enetered Illya's room and stopped in the doorway. Mr. Waverly was standing next to Illya with his hand on his shoulder. He was talking to him in Russian with a soothing voice.  
"Don't worry my boy, you're safe. You need to come back to us. You are very much missed and needed. I'm afraid I wont be able to find anyone able to deal with Mr.Solo as well as you can."  
The old man suddenly realized he wasn't alone and stepped away from the bed,giving a gentle squeeze to the shoulder.  
"Mr. Solo. The doctor called me as soon as they were done with Mr. Kuryakin." Solo nodded.  
"I'll just get along and discuss the situation with him. I'll assume you'll be here if I need to discuss anything with you?" he asked.  
"Yes sir. I'll be here until Mr. Kuryakin wakes up. I think he'd appreciate not being alone."  
"Very well then. I'll leave you to it." As Napoleon turned to the bed he felt a gentle pat on his shoulder. He turned to look at the old man but he was already on his way out the door with no backward glance. Napoleon settled back on the couch and starred at his partner. 

For hours Illya Kuryakin was moving through the maze of corridors in U.N.C.L.E hq. Each time he thought he new where he was he'd turn the corner and find himself in yet another corridor. He was becoming anxious and impatient. Periodically he would hear gun fire and voices and foot steps running near him. But each time he tried to find their location he came upon a dead end. He turned in frustration and came face to face with Harry Beldon. Beldon had a fat cigar clenched in his lips and was reaching for him with hands clenched into claws. He had a crazy look in his eyes and lumbered towards him mumbling and growling words Illya couldn't understand. Beldon reached into his coat and Illya turned to run. He froze as Mother Fear came around the corner with a whip in her hands. Illya began to panic. There was nowhere he could go. Mother Fear began screaming, but to him it sounded like a shrill beeping. He could here Napoleon calling to him. He desperately called back for help. He felt Beldon's fingers grab onto his hair and Mother Fear had gotten close enough to wrap the whip around his wrists. They began to push him down and though he fought with everything he had they slowly pushed him to the floor. He screamed for Napoleon one last time before everything turned white.

Bright white. So bright he couldn't keep his eyes open. He could hear someone whispering in his ear and began to relax as he realized it was his partner.  
"Easy little partner mine. It's okay. You're safe. Your having a nightmare." Napolean spoke calmly to his partner. He stroked his hair and kept his hands from pushing him away. He could tell when Illya began to relax and slowly eased his partner back down to laying. Illya lay blinking and working at slowing his breathing. Taking the time to figure out his surroundings. He knew he was in medical, even though he couldn't feel any injury. He was tired and felt drained. That was all he felt. Finally he opened his eyes and needed a few moments to focus. When he did, he saw Napoleon looking down at him with concern. He swallowed and tried to talk.

"...Poleon...How.....long?" He began to cough and Solo fed him some ice chips.  
"Easy Illya." he quietly instructed his partner. "You need to take it slow. Just lay back and rest. There'll be plenty of time to catch up and ask questions."

The doctor had warned Napoleon not to say anything that could influence Illya in any way. They wanted to make sure that his memeories were his own and not something he heard. Once he had collected himself he again asked,"How long have I been in medical?" Napoleon was saved from answering by the doctor who enetered the room with a nurse and Mr. Waverly. Everyone was silent as the doctor took Illya's vitals. Satisfied he stood back and eyed the Russian.  
"So Mr. Kuryakin you took us on quite a ride. How are you feeling?"  
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath in anticipation of not what, but how Illya was going to answer. They would know emediately if he was back to normal or still four by the way he sounded when he answered.  
"I'm feeling a little disoriented and tired. Other wise I am fine" The others in the room broke into big smiles and approached the bed. The doctor held up his hand and everyone stopped.  
"For the record Mr. Kuryakin what year is it?"  
"1965." Illya cautiously answered.  
" and how old ae you?"  
"32. What is going on. Someone best explain to me soon."  
The doctor smiled and patted his shoulder. He stepped aside and Mr. Waverly stepped up to the bed side. He was smiling around his pipe and patted Illya on the arm. "We'll let your partner fill you in on all the details Mr. Kuryakin. It is a pleasure to have you back. Try not to linger too much longer in medical. You have quite a bit of work to catch up on."

Illya looked at Napoleon with a raised eyebrow. Napoleon was still grinning as he sat down and made himself comfortable. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

One week later Illya was back in his apartment. He was putting away what he had taken with him from medical; along with a duffle bag from the room he had used at hq. He hadn't packed it so was unaware of what was inside. He was happy to be home. The last week had been at times surreal as he learned about what had happened to him. He had no solid memory of the time he had been four..There were flashes of images, but nothing that remained with him. He was grateful to Napoleon who helped him try to remember. The doctor said he might never recall any of it. He opened the duffle bag and removed his clothes. He did not recognize the last items at first. But as he pulled out a picture book, paper airplanes (a little flattened) and one of Napoleon's suit jackets that had seen better days he began to remember and smiled.


End file.
